The Tchaikovsky Files - Confessions of a Composer

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  • ischia

With a radical cinematic artifice Tchaikovsky's adventures are translated into the here and now.

Year

2016

Length

52 min

Director

Ralf Pleger

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Tchaikovsky is regarded as Russia’s most famous composer. Works like “Swan Lake”, “Eugene Onegin” and the Symphony no. 6 “Pathétique” are among his global triumphs. He is celebrated as a national hero. 

With a radical cinematic artifice Tchaikovsky’s adventures are translated into the here and now. The composer’s struggle with his homosexuality, the serious consequences of his crisis, the fusion of life and work and the mysterious circumstances of his death are retold within modern scenarios. Not only Tchaikovsky’s fate, but also his artistic legacy is confronted with the present. The contemporary relevance of his case is taken into account as well as the – often underestimated – avantgarde quality of his music.

Written & Directed by
Ralf Pleger

Director of Photography
Tobias Albrecht
Jürgen Rehberg

Editing & Sound Design
Frank Tschöke

Music
Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky

Line Producer
Kathrin Isberner

Production Manager
Nick Pastucha
Johannes Knoll

Producer
Georg Tschurtschenthaler
Zora Nessl

Executive Producer
Christian Beetz

Commissioning Editor
Christopher Janssen

The Tchaikovsky Files
Trailer
  • „Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“
    Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
    17.05.2018

In co-production with

  • wdr

In co-production with

  • zdf

In association with

  • arte

Supported by

  • media eu